That which you understand
by Fireglass
Summary: -He studied every inch of her and wondered what kind of hell his life would have been had they not gotten to her in time.- Post Season 2. A What-If Scenario. Tony/Michelle


That which you understand

_ Until you lose something that you care deeply about…_

It all started off innocently enough.

CTU…the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit…had been following up on a lead for several months. Someone had leaked information that the company Cyber-X…a supplier of computer software…was feeding confidential knowledge to a known terrorist group overseas.

No one had expected a break so enormous, the summer after CTU first picked up the trail, but it certainly came.

A worker at Cyber-X's headquarters in the City of Angels reported that she had overheard her boss, Franklin Hallord, speaking on the phone to someone, mentioning a weapon's cache in his office.

Unable to locate said devices, the secretary went straight to the police.

The higher-ups at Division as well as CTU converged on the fateful weekend in June to decide a course of action. It was settled on, after lengthy debating, that one field agent would infiltrate Cyber-X and place a tracking device on the cache, thereby offering an open lead to the terrorists.

Through the female secretary, who was more than willing to help, they found out that a woman named Cora Lesler from the top branch of Cyber-X, located in Washington, D.C., was scheduled to make a check on the inventory of the LA finger of the company.

It seemed that the God of Good Fortune was smiling down on CTU.

It was decided unanimously that their only female field agent at the time would masquerade as the employee of the head-honcho business and would place the tracker on the cache. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

That was, until their agent was gunned down the day before the covert operation.

As her death was carefully looked into, the stress of either finding someone else to complete the mission…or to give it up entirely…fell on the shoulders of the Counter Terrorist Unit. Or, more specifically, on Tony Almeida, who was the current head of CTU at the time of the mission.

It was a matter he intended to keep to himself, as he reviewed the files on the different analysts who could take the job. It would be risky, sending someone with no field experience, but the opportunity to catch the evasive terrorist group was too great to ignore.

His brow furrowed in concentration, Tony flipped through yet another cold case, realizing he was starting to get desperate. He had just opened the file for Kim Bauer, the newest employee and also the daughter of a long-time agent, Jack Bauer.

The fact that Kim was new and inexperienced in any aspect of CTU aside, Tony really didn't want Jack, in full protective-father mode, running him down in the street for endangering his little girl.

Chloe O'Brian was another dead-end. She had been in the office for a couple months longer than Kim, but she was equally inexperienced in the field, and she had a rather…odd…personality. One that was not really suited to anything _but _computer-work. In fact, she seemed to talk to most people as if they were malfunctioning machines.

Tony's eyes fell on the name of the next file, and he hurriedly brushed it aside. That was one person he wouldn't even _consider _sending into the field.

He picked up the last document and read the title of someone he hardly knew…someone who worked in technical. Whoever had sent him these must have thought he was _really _desperate…but then, to even consider Kim Bauer, he must be right?

" Dammit!" he swept the entire stack of folders onto the floor and slammed his open palm on his desk, causing a vibration to shoot up his hand. He cursed again, and then pillowed his face in his fingers.

" Tony." he heard the door open, but didn't look up. " I just got a new batch of information on the terrorist cell we're tracking, from Division. They said that…" The voice died away briefly. " Looks like a war zone in here." At last, Tony lifted haunted eyes and a tired smile to the modestly-dressed woman standing in the entryway, one hand on the door, a slight lift to her brows.

" Just me and my incompetence having a disagreement." He responded unhappily. " What's up, Michelle?" His new wife…they had only been married for two weeks…stepped gingerly around the scattered contents of Chloe's file.

" I was going to give you the new list of names from Division, but from the looks of it, your plate is already full." She picked up one of the documents, and then met her husband's evasive gaze over the lip of it. " Complications in the Cyber-X case?"

" The worst." Tony admitted. " Sara Hanson, our only female field agent, was shot and killed last night. It was set up to look like a drive-by, but the LAPD is looking into it now." Hauling his exhausted body from the swiveling chair, the CTU director leaned flat palms on his desk and surveyed the mess he had created. " I've been goin' over files for the last half-hour, trying to find a replacement, but so far…" he shrugged.

Michelle was quiet, for a minute, staring at the lower level of the office. Chloe and Kim were bent over adjacent computers. From the twist of the Bauer girl's lips and the deep frown marring her coworker's homely face, it was obvious they were not on the best of terms…yet again.

It was then, when Tony turned away from the troubles downstairs, that he saw the determined flash in his wife's eye. She turned to face him, and he held up one hand.

" No. No way. I am _not _sending you out on a field mission."

" Tony, I'm trained." She reminded him. " I know I spend more time here than out there, but trust me, I have more experience in fieldwork than anyone else you've got." She crossed her arms stubbornly at the same time he did, and their eyes locked, each warring for a silent upper hand.

At last, Almeida relented, lowering his hands back to his sides.

" Hallord is a smart guy. He might figure out if something is going on. We've been briefing Sara Hanson on him for weeks. As of now, we have…" he checked his watch critically. "…Four hours until the agent is due to be at the building."

Michelle studied him fiercely.

" You know this man, don't you?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, ignoring his spouse's triumphant half-smile.

" Yeah, I used to know him." he conceded. " Frank Hallord was the one who recruited me for CTU work in the first place. He said he'd find me a job as long as I got him into Division's staff."

" Did you?" Michelle probed curiously, tilting her head.

" 'Course not." Tony shot back with an offended half-curl of his lip and a narrowing of his eyes. " Once I learned the protocols, I realized our deal was illegal. I backed out, and he's had a vendetta on me ever since."

" Hmmm." Michelle hummed, sizing her husband up again. " Do you regret the decision to ally yourself with him in the first place?" Tony blinked fondly at her.

" No. If it weren't for him, I would never have met you."

The woman's dark eyes rolled, but she was obviously pleased and flattered by the blatant praise and affection in his tone. She stepped forward for a kiss, but before contact could be made, the phone bleeped.

Tony cursed, but Michelle retreated with an easy smile.

" Almeida." The man grated out as he lifted the receiver.

" Tony, it's Chloe." The prickly worker's voice crackled over the line. " I need the access code to the files on Frank Hallord."

" You could have picked a better time." The director grumbled as he pulled up the file himself. " Access code if B5JC8P. And Chloe?" He added when she had thanked him. " Get it done."

" Alright, fine, you don't have to be so snappy about it." O'Brian verbally sulked. The line went dead, and Tony replaced the receiver, turning back to Michelle. She was staring down at the file in her hands, relocating it from palm to palm.

" What?" her husband probed, dread overtaking him.

" I'm volunteering for this assignment, Tony." Michelle informed him at last, with a determine set to her shoulders. " If you know Hallord, you can brief me yourself. Anyway, this is too big of a lead for us to just drop it on the basis of your personal concerns." She met his eyes briefly, and then glanced away. " What do I have to do?"

Tony stared at her for a moment, more, grinding his teeth in agitation.

" Adam is driving you over. Ryan will meet you at the building." he managed at last. The woman dipped her head, and then turned, heading for the door. Tony glanced at his computer screen, all set up to monitor the events at Cyber-X from home base.

" Michelle." he called decisively. She paused, and glanced back as he flung on his dark jacket and followed at her heels. " I'm coming with you."

Seated in the back of one of CTU's large vans, Tony worked to fasten a tiny camera to the formal business suit Michelle was wearing. It was difficult, considering she was sitting on a stack of protocol books to keep the dirt from collecting on her immaculate cream slacks. Her brushed-out mahogany hair had been straightened by a rather-eager Kim just before departure, to make Michelle fit the profile of the real executive from Washington to a better point.

" Done." Tony exclaimed at last, and then he leaned his head back against the side of the truck, sighing in relief. He was sweating profusely and his entire body trembled with nervousness. Michelle seemed equally antsy, gripping the edge of the book stack with white-knuckled fingers, biting her lip, her eyes darting frantically.

" Listen up." Tony began in a brisk voice that hid his uncertainty. " This is going to be a tough situation." He checked the time…they had an hour to go until the meeting was to take place. " Sorry, Michelle, we can't give you any weapons. As far as we know from the file we pulled on her, this executive from D.C. is a pacifist…she'd never carry a firearm. That's what we're around for. If there's any need for a gun, Ryan will send the agents in to take Hallord out." He rested his palm briefly on his wife's knee, and she smiled wanly at him to show that, indeed, she had heard.

Several minutes later, the van eased to a halt, and Tony checked his watch again…they still had another half-hour before the scheduled appointment.

Several agents, who had followed in SUVs behind the large clunker vehicle, flung the back doors open. Michelle scrambled out and blinked in the harsh sunlight. Tony was a mere second behind her, but he was forced to back off as his wife was bombarded with last minute advice and equipment vital to the success of the mission.

After a few moments of hovering on the outskirts, Tony went to find shade on a bench beneath a man-planted tree nearby. He pillowed his face in his hands as fatigue engulfed him, along with fear and apprehension.

He sneaked a glance at Michelle and saw Ryan Chappell from Division standing near her, explaining how she was to insert the chip in the weapon's cache. The woman was nodding with apparent understanding, though she had to be annoyed and distracted by the person inserting the small bug in her ear that would allow them all to listen in on what was happening with Hallord.

At last, the preparations were complete. By that time, Tony had nearly fallen asleep, face still covered by his hands, and he was only jarred from his stupor when Ryan hollered, perhaps louder than was necessary, " Almeida! C'mon, we're going in!"

He nodded, and got to his feet. He had hardly taken a step, however, when fingers clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around.

His hand instantly went for his gun, concealed beneath his jacket, but he froze when he realized his attacker was none other than Jack Bauer, LA's number one loose cannon…and the man that was rapidly becoming Tony's best friend.

" Dammit, Jack, you almost got yourself killed." The CTU director informed his comrade crossly, forcing himself to relax. Bauer offered a slight smile.

" Sorry. I just came back from the field and Chloe mentioned Michelle was Sara's replacement. Tony, I'm sorry about this." Jack's face held genuine concern. " Is she okay?" The other man felt a chill tingle through him.

" She hasn't even gone in yet, Jack." he reminded his friend. " And she'll be fine." He wished the conviction that flavored his words reached his heart, as well, but he felt completely cold inside. Dread was rapidly filling his spirit.

Jack nodded, face a blank mask.

" Tony!"

He glanced over one shoulder to see his wife approaching him. At first, she seemed unrecognizable, with her dark hair clipped back from eyes adorned by makeup, her steps, elegant and graceful, bearing her weight perfectly centered. Even her hands, with their fake nails, seemed different.

" Tony, Chappelle's getting impatient." Seeming to notice, for the first time, that they were not alone, Michelle smiled. " Hi, Jack."

" Michelle." he inclined his head to her, then turned back to his friend. " Tony, I'm going to help you monitor things from inside. If the situation gets bad, you could probably use an extra hand." He jogged off to join the rest of the team that would be inhabiting the helpful secretary's office.

" I think he's eager to get back into the swing of things, after making that drug bust on the Salazars and being undercover for so long." Michelle's words were meant to be joking, but her tone was strained.

Refusing to meet her gaze, Tony shrugged.

" Let's go."

Side-by-side, they headed through the back door, which, excepting a few flights of stairs, was directly connected to their secretary mole's office.

As they reached the doorway, Tony slowed, and reached out, catching his wife's elbow as she continued to walk.

" Michelle." He swung her around to face him.

For a moment, he was speechless, once again astounded by how different she looked. Only the warmth of love in her eyes…_love for him_…remained the same.

" What is it?" She inquired gently. He sighed, and reached into his jacket pocket, extracting something that bore a striking resemblance to a bomb detonator. He held it out, and Michelle took it with a questioning glance in his direction.

" It's something I had division reconfigure when we still had Sara on this case. If you pop the top and press the red tab, it'll send a vibrate signal to my phone. Only use it if you need our help." He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing one hand along his unshaven jaw and refusing to meet his wife's gaze. " I still don't think this is a good idea."

Michelle laughed softly, and Tony felt as though someone was slowly dismantling every fraction on his heart. That feeling only intensified as she kissed him boldly on the lips. The contact was only for a few seconds…schedule allowed no more than that. But as they headed inside, Tony saw Michelle tuck the vibration device away in her breast pocket, and he smiled slightly.

The purpose of the mission was simple: plant the tracking device on the cache without arousing suspicion, and then allow the transition of the weapons to the terrorist group to go as planned.

Michelle was drilled with this objective before she ever set foot outside of CTU's walls, but she still felt slightly uncertain as she headed through the marble-floored lobby, her high-heels clicking much too loudly on the slick, hard surface.

The foyer was enormous, with tall glass windows that allowed clear view of the street out front. At the far back wall, a circular station with enormous, protruding letters reading ' Cyber-X' mounted on the wall above it.

A woman with short, unnatural carrot-colored hair and strikingly blue eyes was typing away at a computer when Michelle halted before her. The receptionist flashed a blindingly-white smile.

" Hello!" She greeted cheerily. " How may I help you?"

" My name is Cora Lesler." Michelle began sweetly. " I was sent by Washington D.C. to check the inventory in this branch." The woman at the computer bounced to her feet and lifted the nearby phone.

Nervously, Michelle bit her lip.

" Mister Hallord? Yes, sir, it's Mina. Cora Lesler from D.C. is here to see you!" With a skimpy smile and a titter of "Yes, sir!", the annoying receptionist replaced the receiver and handed Michelle a long gray card. " Mister Hallord will see you! You have a nice day now, Miss Lesler!" And she promptly went back to her business.

_She seems to get the job done alright_. Michelle mused wryly.

And then she realized she had no idea where to go now.

Seated in the darkness of the secretary mole Keena White's office, Tony crossed his right arm across his ribs and stroked his chin with the hand of his left, watching as the team tweaked the final controls of the computers they had set up. When all preparations were complete, Ryan handed Jack and Tony both headsets, and then nodded to the head of the software team.

The nearest monitor on their left flared to life, showing a clear view of the building through the cam on Michelle's suit.

" All systems are a go." The nearest technician informed them as the three in-charge men slipped their headsets on.

" Michelle?" Tony spoke tentatively.

" I can hear you. Go ahead." Was her whispered reply. Ryan cut in.

" Michelle, take the elevator straight in front of you. Ride it up to the seventh floor. Once you get there, go through the first door on your right. When you're through, I'll give you further instructions." The head of Division paced restlessly, while Tony kept his eyes fixed on the camera.

He saw the flash of the elevator lights, heard the muffled _ding _that signified the reaching of the destination. Michelle ducked through the first door on the right.

" Next?" She inquired. Ryan, eyes fixed on the floor as he paced, seemed not to hear her. It was as though he was lost in his own thoughts.

" Michelle, this is Jack." Bauer informed her calmly. He took over without missing a beat, eyes scanning the directory. " Take the corridor to the northeast door. Through there should be a wide-open space with an entryway on one end. There'll be a desk. Keena White should be waiting for you there." He set the building blueprint aside and leaned his mouth on clasped hands, watching the screen just as intently as Tony did.

" I'm pretty nervous, actually." Michelle admitted with a strained laugh, her voice quiet through the com device attached to her collar.

" You're doing fine, sweetheart." Tony assured her. He met Jack's eyes, and saw his own concerns and fears reflected there, on a basis someone like Chappell would never fully understand.

More than just the finding of terrorists rested on the complete perfection of this mission…Michelle's life was at stake, too.

" Cora Lesler?"

Michelle glanced up from the clipboard tucked under her arm as a strikingly beautiful African American woman came to greet her.

Keena White was truly beautiful, dressed in a glittering gold blouse and a long black skirt. Her teeth, like the lobby receptionist's, were sparkling clean, and her rose-colored nail polish made her hands look soft and delicate. She wore a necklace that was studded with real diamonds, and shoes that seemed brand-new and in prime condition.

The only things about the woman that didn't speak of absolute doting and happiness were the lack of light in her eyes, the forced smile on her lips, the way her gaze darted anxiously about as she led Michelle towards a large oak door.

" Miss Lesler." She began in an urgent whisper as the undercover agent rested her hand on the doorknob, " Be careful."

" Don't worry. My team is here to protect both of us." Michelle assured her lightly, though her heart seemed to be splashing about in her stomach juices.

" I hope so." Keena responded in a low, uncertain tone. She frowned for an instant, and then her false smile was back in place, and she gently shoved Michelle aside. Placing both hands on the knob of the door, she pushed it open with a sort of stiff grace.

" Mister Hallord!" She bowed briefly at the waist, and then stepped aside to allow Michelle view of a tall, willowy, balding man who appeared to be in his early fifties. His eyes were a piercing black, concealed behind thick-rimmed glasses.

To an untrained agent, he would seem almost like an aged computer-geek, with his rather gawky frame, but Michelle was not fooled. The light of a predator was in his eye as he surveyed her briefly.

" Cora Lesler?" he inquired in a deep voice.

" Yes." She responded crisply.

" uh-huh." he hummed in a rather skeptical tone. Then he reached down and began leafing through a stack of papers on his desk. " You may go now, Keena." The dark-skinned woman nodded, shot Michelle a final glance full of well-wishes and sympathy, and then took her leave.

Taking a deep breath, the CTU agent stepped forward.

" As you likely know, I'm here to review the inventory. Some holes have come up in the final drafts sent to Washington…figures just aren't adding up as they should." She offered what she hoped with a disarming smile…after all, it always worked on Tony. " I was hoping you'd help me clear things up?"

" Of course." He responded diplomatically. " Right this way, Miss Lesler."

They went through a door at the back of the room, into a long, dark hallway. It was a bit dank inside and the air was moist. Michelle rubbed the clammy chills from her arms and darted her eyes analytically about.

The roof wasn't much higher than her head…maybe about three feet taller. Hallord had to stoop his broad shoulders to keep from thunking his forehead on the low ceiling, and even then, Michelle occasionally saw the ridges of his spine grind against the roof. Still, he seemed oblivious to such a fact as they moved on through the narrow passage.

" Can you see them on any of the security feeds anymore?" Jack inquired of the team as the sounds of consistent footsteps came over Michelle's com. Tony missed whatever answer there might have been. His right cheek pressed to interlocked hands, he watched the camera view from his wife' shirt be engulfed in darkness.

Two sets of footsteps…hers, and Hallord's…rang sharply about Almeida's ears through the headset, and he found himself wrestling with feelings of loathing for the man who's back he could barely see in the gloom.

The door to the office burst inward suddenly. Jack, being ever-hasty, swung around with his gun pulled, and Keena White thrust her hands up in surrender, cowering away from any possible assault.

" Jack, stand down!" Ryan ordered authoritatively. Bauer holstered his weapon, and, appearing chastened, he lowered his head.

" Sorry."

" No, i-it's alright." Keena assured him. She glanced earnestly at Chappelle. " I wanted to ask you…can she do it? Can your agent really stop this terrorist dealing that Mister Hallord is doing?" her glossed lips trembled, and Ryan rested a hand on her thin shoulder reassuringly.

" We've got the best agents available on this assignment." He informed the woman in his bureaucratic voice. " Piece of cake."

_Easy enough for you to say. _Tony thought bitterly. _You're not the one who might get caught in the cross fire_. He must have made some sound of disgust, because Jack gave him a look that said plainly, _Stand down_.

Tony turned back to the monitor just in time to see a flash of light penetrate the darkness surrounding Michelle's camera. He tightened his headset and bellowed at Chappelle, " Something's happening!" Dropping his soothing tone and stance, Ryan rushed to gather up his own ear-and-mouth pieces as a new development in the mission came about.

Michelle flinched as Hallord flung open a door to allow stark, fluorescent light to bleed into the darkness her eyes had just adjusted too. She passed her palm over her face, and then forced her vision to focus, her feet, to follow.

They emerged onto the second floor of an enormous warehouse. Boxes were stacked high on towering shelves, and workers bustled around, shouting orders to one another. Michelle bit her lip, caught in the throes of anxiety when she realized how incredibly long it would take to find what she was looking for.

" _Michelle_."

She winced again, slightly, when she heard Ryan Chappelle's voice spit through her ear-com. She let out a low hum to let him know she was listening.

" Tell Hallord that you know he has more than this…that he keeps his removable disk chips in a separate storage room. Keena White thinks that is where he keeps the cache that we're looking for. Hurry." There was no further instruction, and the woman composed herself, turning.

" This is an impressive stock, Mister Hallord. However, I am privy to the information that you have a separate storage room for removable disk chips." Michelle informed him briskly. He smiled.

" I'm not entirely sure that that is secret information, Miss Lesler. However, if it will ease your mind, I'll take you there. Right this way." He stood off in a swinging place along the balcony, and Michelle, feeling a strange sensation of foreboding, followed.

They turned a corner at the end of the terrace and entered an airtight cubicle with gray walls. Boxes were stacked high in the far corner, but those weren't what caught Michelle's eye. Her gaze fell on a safe on the far wall, and a sense of accomplishment rolled through her. She knew where the weapons cache was.

Maintaining her cover, however, she addressed Hallord in a level voice, " I assume the chips are kept in the safe?" For an instant…just an instant…something dark like malice flashed in the businessman's eyes, and his body grew briefly tense. Then he seemed to become loose again.

" Unfortunately, no. Although such a form of protection wouldn't be uncalled for. Disks are stolen from Cyber-X's branches everyday, mostly while en route to costumers. But then, as an executive of the head center, I am sure you're aware of such thefts." He raised one thin eyebrow slightly, awaiting her reaction, and Michelle tore her gaze away from the safe to nod at him.

" Certainly. But I hope you know we're doing all we can to protect against any more loss of merchandise." She responded lightly. Hallord's eyes never left her as he nodded slightly. " Still, I would like to check the contents of the safe, just to be certain that everything here is as it should be."

A long silence stretched out between them, and Michelle felt that renewed sense of unsettlement…something that told her to run.

" She's in." Chappelle informed the tech team as Michelle's camera showed imagery of a storage room. Keena White, sipping a coffee in the corner, shuddered.

" That's the place where I saw him store it." She held the plastic container tighter in trembling hands. " I hope your agent really can pull this off. Mister Hallord may not seem all that threatening, but I've been with him for years, and he's always scared me."

" He won't faze Michelle." Tony responded with confidence that belied how uncertain he was. " Aside from Sara, she's the best one for this mission." He glanced sidelong at Jack, who met his gaze steadily.

It was apparent that neither man felt as confidant as they let off.

Tony got to his feet, unwilling to leave but needing to stretch his legs and, most importantly, get a drink. He excused himself from the midst of the tech team and went out the private back way of the room, down the stairwell they had come up from, and emerging into the blinding midday light.

He retreated to the van and found a water bottle there, warm and half-empty. He chugged half of it down without really noticing the metallic taste. His stomach felt unsettled with nerves and his hands, he noticed as he screwed the lid of the container back on, were shaking slightly.

" Tony."

He glanced around at the tone of slight exasperation to see Jack standing behind him, hands in the pockets of his windbreaker. For a moment, they stared at each other, neither blinking, neither speaking. Then the CTU director pitched the water bottle back into the van and slammed the door shut behind it.

" What?" He muttered without glancing at his friend.

" You okay?" Jack prodded gently. The other man shrugged uneasily, glancing towards the wide back of the building that housed the storage room.

" No, not really. Why?" He shot back.

" I'm sorry." Jack apologized. " I'm not trying to push your buttons. You just seemed really on-edge back there." A biting retort summoned itself to Tony's lips, and then died there when he saw the genuine concern in his coworker's gaze. He shrugged.

" I'll be fine when this thing is over." he admitted. Jack offered him a knowing look, and then they headed back indoors sans the water bottle.

Tony studied his friend out of the corner of one eye as they ascended to the secretary's office. Despite his thick sandy-blond hair and strong frame, Bauer looked older. He'd looked that way ever since he had gone undercover with the Salazars. It worried Tony, worried them all, but no one ever said anything,

" You did good on the drug bust, Jack." Almeida found the words escaping him before he had really thought them through. His friend looked mildly taken aback, before he smiled slightly.

" I was working for the best." he said, clapping his comrade on the shoulder.

They reached the office and entered the back door, only to find Chappelle leaning against the table by the cam monitor, his eyes wide, face ashen. Tony felt his heart stutter to a stop momentarily, before it began to beat with a newfound intensity.

" What's going on?" He demanded of Ryan.

" There's some sort of charged field in the storage room that's interfering with our communications devices. It's probably some magnetic barrier that interrupts the waves sent from Michelle's mic and com to home base." Peering past him, Tony realized the headsets were blaring static and the screen was fuzzy.

" Sonofabitch." He cursed. " We have to go in there, Ryan." But Chappelle's eyes became flint-hard, and he shook his head.

" Before the connection failed, Michelle seemed to be doing just fine. We're not going to compromise the situation." His gaze bored into Tony's, daring the other man to contradict him. For a long moment, they glared at each other.

Then a faint stream of dialogue broke through the headsets, bringing all gazes to the three abandoned ear-and-mouth sets.

"…I'll…open…safe." A male voice crackled.

" Fine…me." Michelle's retort came instantly. " Just don't…anything…have to…report…authorities." She sounded tense, and Tony's heart constricted. A glance showed him that Chappelle, though frowning, appeared unconcerned.

Almeida fisted both hands at his sides.

_Michelle_…

The idea of allowing Hallord to open the safe containing a possible cache of powerful weapons did not sit well with Michelle.

She stood at the far end of the room, the clipboard tucked close to her chest, watching as he spun the dial of the safe so fast, she would never possibly memorize the combination.

That was, of course, his intention.

He kept his back to her as he unlocked the compartment, and Michelle fingered the tracker device hidden within the paper of the clipboard. This was it…all she had to do was plant it, and then she would be home free.

With a click, the safe came unlocked.

Hallord's hand rested on the knob to the small container, but he seemed to be frozen, his shoulders still square to the wall. Michelle felt a second shiver of mistrust ride her spine, all the way down to her tailbone. In that same instant, she realized there was no sound coming from the bug in her ear. It had, more or less, it seemed, failed her.

A brief spurt of fear shot through her, but Michelle controlled herself, and stepped forward with an authoritative air.

" My apologies for seeming brisk Mister Hallord, but I'm on a tight schedule, and I think it would be best if we…"

" Who are you?" He interrupted her. Michelle was taken aback.

" Excuse me?' She demanded indignantly.

" I asked you who you are!" Hallord swung around, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. The female agent was instantly on full alert, wishing she had a gun.

" Perhaps your secretary wasn't clear enough. My name is…" She began, words fringed with ice, but the businessman had stepped away from the safe and was regarding her with a steely-eyed awareness.

" I know what alias you introduced yourself as, but I've known you were false since the moment Keena brought you into my office." His lips twisted in a foul, dominating smirk. " You see, Cora Lesler is my niece."

" Who…you?"

Hallord's suspicious voice crackled over the headset, and Tony winced.

He had been writing down what snippets of dialogue managed to come through the broken reception, and Jack hastily copied them and tried to fill in the blanks. So far, the conversation didn't seem to be going so well. Hallord's tone conveyed a sense of mistrust that made Tony feel on-edge.

" Perhaps…secretary…clear enough. My…is…" Michelle sounded abrasive…far _too _abrasive, the way she got when she was being defensive. Tony narrowed his eyes at Ryan Chappelle, who seemed relatively immune to death glares.

Just as Almeida was about to speak, Hallord's voice snapped over the com, clear as anything, hard as stone.

" You see, Cora Lesler is my niece."

Chappelle's hand fell from his chin, which he had been stroking. Jack's pen lifted away from the paper and froze, his eyes remaining transfixed on the decoded dialogue. Tony stared at the fuzzy visual from the camera, his brain seeming to be slogging through mud. Fear and a sense of failure cracked through him, making his nerve endings feel as though they had been ignited in the hottest flame.

" Ryan?" Jack muttered, glancing at the head of Division. Chappelle's hands were perched on his hips, and he seemed lost in thought. Then he glanced over at Tony, finally seeming to sense the heat of the other man's glare. He nodded slowly.

" Send…"

And then the voices over the line cleared up suddenly, and everyone strained to listen in to what was happening in the storage room…

Michelle felt her stomach bottom out.

There would be no calling him out on a mistake anymore. If Cora Lesler was his niece, he would know what she looked like, sounded like, acted like. And apparently, Michelle Dessler-Almedia didn't fit that woman to a point like CTU had thought.

Her eyes fell on the safe, unprotected at Hallord's back, and she knew the time to act was now. She had no gun, no knife, no nothing but her wits and her hand-to-hand combat skills. That would be enough.

It had to be.

Sliding the tracker from the clipboard's core, she hurled the papers at Hallord. Whilst he was distracted, she slipped around behind him and made a beeline for the safe. She wrenched the door back and reached for the zipper of the large brown leather carrying-case, her fingers trembling.

A hand shot past her, slamming the safe door shut. Michelle was forced to retract her palm or risk getting it crushed.

A second later, a voice spat over her intercom, undeniably Tony's .

" Michelle! Get out of there!"

She spun around, only to find her way blocked by Hallord's blue-shirted chest, seemingly a hundred miles wide. She slipped nimbly to the side, but he grabbed her wrist and tossed her against the wall. When she swiveled away, she found herself staring in the muzzle of a loaded .45.

A soft sound of defeat escaped her.

" Michelle?" she heard Tony's voice, softer, this time, coming through the ear-piece. " Michelle, are you out?" Static deadened his words, making him seem so incredibly far away.

" Who are you and what are you doing here?" Hallord demanded.

Michelle glared at him, and said nothing.

If there was one thing she wouldn't trade for an escape from this, it was the safety of Tony, Jack, Chappelle, and the rest of the team. She couldn't risk their safety…she simply wouldn't. They'd apprehend Hallord once they heard the gunshot, anyways.

And so she said nothing.

" She's not answering me." Tony hissed. " Michelle?"

There was nothing over the line, only the faint sound of harsh breathing. The camera had blacked out entirely, and the head technician was working to get it back up and running. Jack was leaning over the young man's shoulder, offering advice when necessary, while Ryan anxiously paced, continuously reminding them all that they had to keep this under the radar.

" Who are you working for?"

The voice blared through the headset, and Tony winced, unprepared for the sudden clarity. At the same time, the man who was working to interrupt to the barrier to their equipment let out a triumphant, " Done!"

All systems flared back to life, and Tony felt his heart drop and stomach clench at what the camera showed him.

Hallord's body, from the neck down, one arm extended. It was hard to see what he was holding, but Almeida didn't need twenty guesses to figure out what it was.

" Michelle." He spoke her name again, his voice barely grating out between clenched teeth. Jack's face was creased with a frown as he watched Ryan Chappelle study the screen.

Time was running out.

" Hmm."

Michelle glanced down as Hallord jerked her left hand away from her body. He examined her wedding ring in a way that filled the woman with rage. Were it not for the gun pointed at her head, she would have told him to keep his filthy hands off of something that was so sacred to her.

His watery eyes lifted to her face.

" Who is the lucky love connoisseur?" He inquired nosily. She gazed levelly back into his eyes, remembering Tony's declaration of his past with this man. Her face a blank mask, she released fear for certainty.

" My husband's identity is none of your concern." She informed him coldly, calmly. " And neither is mine, for that matter. I prefer not to give my personal information to terrorists." She saw his face grow dark, and then he reached for her other hand, and wrestled the tracker from her palm.

He studied its attributes with skilled intensity, and then glanced back up with a taunting smile that chilled Michelle to her core.

" CTU model." he informed her stoutly. " Which could mean…" He reached into her collar and jerked the mic loose, letting it hang down across her breasts. He stared at it with a ferocious gleam in his eye, and then he spoke loudly.

" Welcome to the game of war, Tony Almeida. Now I'll show you how it's played." He reached out, grabbed the pin on Michelle's shirt that concealed the camera, and ripped it free, tossing it over one shoulder. Then Hallord hefted his gun high and smashed it against Michelle's temple. Skin parted and blood burst forth. The woman fell, striking the far side of her head on the wall and hitting the ground with a dull smacking sound.

Briefly, before she blacked out, she heard Hallord fire one shot that deliberately missed her head. Burning pain exploded through her shoulder.

And then she was unconscious.

" Welcome to the game of war, Tony Almeida."

Jack dropped his headset and stared at his friend in shock. The other man's fists tightened dangerously, but he said nothing in return, only stared at the camera's vantage point. His breaths were coming out hoarse and unsteady.

" Now I'll show you how it's played."

The camera revealed a close up of Hallord's hand. Then the tiny optical device caught a blur of ceiling, walls, floor. It had obviously been ripped off.

" Oh, no." Chappelle muttered.

There was a brief pause, and then the sound of a single gunshot shattered through the air. Tony stood frozen, palms splayed out on the tabletop, mouth slack with shock, staring in utter horror at the camera screen, which gave nothing away.

He couldn't even hear Michelle breathing.

" _No!_" the word was ripped from Tony's lips like a curse. He flung his headset off and broke cover, dashing from the room. Ryan Chappelle seemed to consider recalling him, but Jack glowered at the man from Division.

" Don't waste your breath." He muttered.

Chappelle swallowed, and then ordered the offensive team to move in.

Tony tore through Hallord's office, entering the still-unlocked door to the small tunnel. He moved along nearly on his hands and knees, his breaths coming out in sharp spurts. The fact that his wife had been shot hadn't even fully sunken in yet. All he could feel was the burning need for revenge.

He emerged into the warehouse, swung around, and bolted for the storage room. The door was locked, and he was about to simply kick it in we he felt a shoulder smash into his, jarring him sideways.

" What the hell are you doing?" A familiar voice demanded scathingly. Tony glared into Jack's face, rubbing his upper arm where bruising was inevitable.

" That bastard shot my wife." He retorted in an equally angry voice.

" And the same thing will happen to you if you just go in like that. Use your gun." Bauer nodded to the Glock positioned on his friend's belt. Tony released a long breath and nodded, drawing his weapon.

The team crouched on either side of the door, and Almeida was struck by how utterly useless they would be. They were only going after one man, and that man's blood was already on his hands, as far as Tony was concerned.

" Go."

He drove his foot into the door and then instantly dropped back down. A volley of shots exploded over his head, two strays striking members of the team and sending them reeling. Jack kept his back pressed to the wall on one side, Tony, on the other.

They glanced at each other, and then Bauer nodded.

Striking like a snake, he leaned around the entryway and fired.

There was no scream of pain, so it was likely Jack had missed.

Tony got slowly to his feet, holding his gun loosely. He took a deep breath and stepped into clear view, which would make him both a clean target and a better shot. His dark eyes flickered to the form of his enemy, crouched behind a stack of boxes.

He swung the Glock around. It barked…once, twice.

Frank Hallord collapsed.

The team was in the room immediately, with four of the six besides Jack and Tony staying behind…two to help their comrades that had been injured.

Jack went to check Hallord at once.

" Dead." he pronounced without a hint of remorse in his voice.

Tony's eyes did a quick sweep of the room, finally coming to rest in the corner left of the doorway. He felt as though his heard had been ripped out and crushed.

Michelle was lying prone, her body limp on the floor. Blood pooled all around her lithe frame in a great, brownish-red torrent. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks looked incredibly pale.

" No…"

Tony felt the word escape him, a softer echo if his earlier exclamation in the office. He took a tentative step forward, and then another. His legs gave out and he hit the floor, his hand reaching for his wife's. " Michelle…"

He lifted her gently into a sitting position against the wall. The clip had fallen from her straightened hair, which fell in a single silky wave over her forehead. Gingerly, he brushed it back and examined her.

It was not the blood all over her that frightened him, nor the way her head was bent at an unnatural angle, chin parallel to her shoulder. It was her stillness, her utter immobility, which caused harsh fear to slash through him.

" Michelle…" He repeated her name, hoping for some response even as he pressed the heel of his hand into her shredded right shoulder. " Come on, stay with me." Already, his palm was soaked with her blood, and emotion was rising in him, as rampant as the life source in his veins. " Open your eyes, Michelle. Come on. _Come on_!"

He released her arm wound briefly to gaze into her face. Though her chest rose in thin breaths and her heart beat weakly against his, she was showing no signs of responding, and he feared she never would.

" Michelle!"

Tears of horror and guilt were flooding his eyes, now, making them feel hot and sore. It was his fault she was in this state…his fault because he hadn't made her stay at CTU, because hadn't given her a gun, because, because, because…

" Tony."

He glanced up to see Jack standing at his shoulder, face impassive save for the worry gleaming on the surface of his eyes.

" Call medical. Have them send a team over here _now_." Almeida murmured. His friend nodded, seeming about to say something. Then Bauer changed his mind, called the team to him, and left.

Tony embraced his wife, holding her against him, his face buried in her hair. He felt utterly useless and at fault, the intense sensations of shame making his stomach roll as though he was going to vomit.

Seemingly endless minutes passed, with her blood seeping into his clothing as his tears soaked her hair.

Then, faintly, he felt her stirring against him.

Her thin breaths seemed to take on a much steadier pace, and, most definitely, he felt her move again, her arms twitching against him. Her exhalations gusted against his neck, chilling him, as she gathered enough strength to speak.

" Tony?"

" Yeah." He managed to whisper past the lump of relief lodged in his throat. He sniffed back more tears. " Yeah, sweetheart, it's me." She shifted in his embrace, so he loosened his hold on her, slightly. He kept his right hand pressed on her shoulder wound, since it seemed to be the more dangerous of the two.

" Hallord…" Michelle began dazedly.

" Dead. I killed him." Tony informed her honestly. She nodded slightly, disappointment lighting in her eyes as she glanced at the locked safe. He understood her unsettlement…they had just lost their only lead on that particular terrorist group. Hallord knew…or had known…things none of them did.

They could still send the cache off, if they had any idea where exactly it was supposed to go.

Michelle's eyelids flickered with drowsiness.

" I'm sorry, Tony." She whispered.

" For what?" He inquired, running his free hand over her cheek.

" I blew my cover." She reminded him softly. " I lost our lead."

" No, you didn't. We didn't check up on Lesler's connection to Hallord well enough. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. Not yours." He brushed her straightened hair from her face and kissed her forehead gently. " Got it?"

She nodded, her head pillowed against his shoulder again.

He held her, and thanked God she was safe.

3MonthsLater

Tony leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

It was nearly midnight; he had been working nonstop for nearly forty-eight hours. He had caught only the occasional quick drowse between issuing assignments, answering questions, briefing, and heading out into the field once or twice. He was exhausted and barely functioning, his brain feeling weighted down and fuzzy.

It was just his luck that he was caught taking a quick nap at eleven-thirty.

" Oh, wake up." He heard a voice that was mockingly cross speaking just beside his desk. Starting upright, he blinked hazy eyes at Michelle, who stood beside him, her right arm stiff at her side, still healing after the disastrous assignment at Cyber-X.

" I'm awake." Tony protested slowly, backhanding tears of exhaustion from his face. " What's up?" Michelle rolled her eyes at him and slipped a folder under his arm, still laid out on the desk.

" Division sent this over…said you might want to look at it." While that privilege seemed specifically for him, Tony noticed his wife didn't leave his side as he flipped the file open and traced his eyes down it.

A specific name caught his eye, and he did a double-take, staring.

" Michelle." he murmured. " This is a report from a Middle-Eastern agency. They caught the terrorist group that we were tracking three months ago…the one associated with Frank Hallord." He instantly felt a change in the woman, as she leaned over his shoulder for a better look.

" Hmm. Says here they weren't gunned down. They turned themselves in when they were only two strong." She raised her eyebrows. " That explains their need to have connections to someone with a weapons cache." She remarked. " They must have been really shorthanded on manpower and guns."

Tony studied the file for a moment more.

" I wish I could be there when they get executed." He admitted finally. " If it weren't for them, you never would have gotten hurt." He reached up and stroked Michelle's cheek with his thumb. She grinned down at him.

" True, but then I wouldn't owe you for saving me."

" You owe me for more than that." He teased. She leaned over and kissed him quickly. When they drew apart, both were all business. " Division wants you to seal that off and send it back to them."

" Alright." Tony leaned back in his chair. " But then we're going home."

" Sounds good." Michelle, who had been working just as long as he had, agreed. Her hair, curly once more, flicked against his cheek as she turned and headed out the door, down the stairs, back to the floor…just in time to intercept another confrontation between Chloe and Kim.

Smiling, Tony turned back to the file. His eyes lingered on the picture of Franklin Hallord, the person to whom he owed his job at CTU…the person who he had killed. He felt no regret. What the businessman had done and planned to do was illegal. He was stopped, just as he should have been.

Tony glanced out of his office to see Michelle hurrying with light steps towards the situation room. He studied every inch of her and wondered what kind of hell his life would have been had they not gotten to her in time.

His phone bleeped suddenly, and, with a sigh, he picked it up.

" Almedia."

" Tony." It was Jack. " We need you in the situation room. Something's come up…something concerning the Salazars." A long pause stretched out, in which neither man spoke. Then, " Tony? You still there?"

With a sigh, the CTU director answered, " Yeah. I'll be there."

He replaced the receiver, closed the file Michelle had given him, and slipped it into the drawer of his desk.

Then he headed downstairs, leaving the folder behind and taking the memory of the incident at Cyber-X with him…a memory he would carry to his grave.

…

….

…..

……

……. …_you can never understand its true worth._


End file.
